She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
by Ichihime Kurosaki
Summary: 05: The first gift she received from Sasuke as an official couple was a dozen roses and she's had them ever since. SasuSaku Month 2014 Drabbles!
1. Nursery Blues

**She Loves Me… He Loves Me Not**

**Chapter 1:**

**Nursery Blues**

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! This is going to be my drabble series for SasuSaku month 2014! I know I'm starting really late, but I want to participate this year. I wasn't home at the beginning of the month and then came home to a ton of work and another health scare, so bear with me as I try to get all caught up! Hopefully I'll get the rest posted before August 15! :)

**Prompt:** The fresh smell of paint.

**Summary:** In which Sakura loves the fresh smell of paint, really and truly, but a certain _condition_ – along with a couple of people - is inhibiting her from sniffing away. "Sakura! For the millionth time, you cannot inhale those fumes!"

**Rating:** K+, T

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and its entirety belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Read. Enjoy. Then, review!_

* * *

**_~xXx~ She Loves Me ~xXx~_**

* * *

A baby is a miracle. A blessing. Babies tend to bring out the best of everyone surrounding them in their innocent and pure youth, especially the parents that bring those babies into the world. But before they can bring joy and happiness, they actually have to be around. And that is when the question "where do babies come from?" tends to pop up. So, where do they come from? You see, boys and girls, children aren't brought into this world by large birds that carry them with their beaks, swathed in cloth, commonly referred to as storks; they aren't purchased at a 'baby' store like the common house pet that can be bought at a pet store; no magical fairy godmother brings mommies and daddies babies upon them wishing for one or some; nor are they received as a gift from jolly, old St. Nick. Babies, infants, newborns, tots – whatever you wish to call them – are conceived through an act, one word - three letters long, which may or may not lead to something called pregnancy. And after a certain period of time, short to some while longer to others but even so more or less nine months, the mother – who would be the one, I hope, to actually get pregnant and endure the nine-month time frame in which they would carry another human being – gives birth and _voila_! A baby is born and bada-bing bada-boom, let the happiness and joy and sleepless nights begin.

However, going back to the nine-month time frame: What happens during these nine months? What can the parents expect to go through? What sorts of things are associated with a woman being pregnant? Some symptoms include: a beauty-enhancing glow, mood swings, rampant-running hormones, nausea or "morning sickness", cravings, the urge to go 'tinkle' more often, sensitivity – both emotionally and physically, swollen feet, and, of course, the growing of the womb. There are several other symptoms associated with pregnancy obviously, like being just a tad or an extreme amount needier in the sexual department, but there's also things pregnant women have to be cautious of. A selected OB/GYN tends to go over these things with the mother and father to make sure that both the mother and infant(s) stay healthy throughout the whole pregnancy. Expecting mothers are told to not smoke, drink alcohol, take illegal drugs, avoid caffeine and junk food, avoid negativity, negative thoughts, and stress… and also, avoid fumes from paint, paint thinner, and household cleaners, etc.

But it seems like no one told a certain pink-haired, emerald-eyed, soon-to-be mother of two that…

* * *

**_~xXx~ She Loves Me Not ~xXx~_**

* * *

Tuesday, July 1, 2014, was a seemingly quiet day which was quite unusual for the Uchiha household. Usually, the Uchiha matriarch could be found bustling around the house doing chores, cleaning, cooking, and chasing after her little one. Instead, Uchiha Sakura, wife of Uchiha Sasuke and mother of Uchiha Satsuki, could be found having a glaring match with her four-year-old daughter.

Sakura, standing at 5'3", in a sleeveless Aztec-print maxi dress paired with a white cardigan, had her arms crossed and resting on her bulging belly, seven months pregnant with the newest addition to the Uchiha family: a baby boy, Sanosuke. But that's what Sasuke wanted to name him. If she had her way, which was in fact most of the time due to Sasuke's incapability to say 'no' to her, she'd name him after Sasuke's late brother, Itachi. Sakura's emerald-green eyes shone in the light with irritation, her mouth was set in a tight frown, and she tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the child in front of her to relent and learn her place. Her cheeks were red from anger and she was breathing in huffs and puffs.

"Satsuki," she snapped irascibly, stomping her foot for emphasis.

Said child didn't even flinch. She didn't cringe and she didn't blink. Her glare was unrelenting, unremitting and insistent. The way the four-year-old held herself was confident and absolute; she wasn't backing down anytime soon. This was a fight she was going to win. And she was going to win it the way her Otou-san had taught her to do anything: Uchiha-style. The way she would go about winning this situation would be by means of persistence with a hint of Uchiha arrogance and pride tossed into the mix, and some Haruno confidence too. Of course, there was one more thing from her mother's side that usually helped the young girl in winning a.k.a. getting what she wanted; it was something Satsuki had learned from her Okaa-san and Obaa-san very, very young; it was something her Otou-san hated and that she knew was his weakness – it was all males' weakness actually…

Puppy dog faces and tantrums had long since stopped fazing him. Oh no, now it was something possibly much worse.

One word: Crying.

If there was one thing the great and mighty Uchiha Sasuke hated more than anything, it was seeing his Hime cry. Of course he'd already figured out her little trick, but it didn't matter. Every time he saw her bottom lip quiver and her eye onyx eyes tear up, he'd give in to whatever mundane or ridiculous request she had; whatever Satsuki wanted, she got. There was a time when he was immune to all but Sakura's tears however, now it really didn't matter which one of them did it, Sakura or Satsuki, it still tore him to pieces every time he heard a sniffle or wail or saw tears running down their faces. It was the ultimate weapon against Sasuke and both Uchiha females used it to their advantage as much as possible…

Satsuki, with onyx eyes that appeared to be a dark forest green color in the sun, glared defiantly at her mother, looking eerily similar to her father. The four-year-old, born June 24, 2010, was a miniature of Sasuke in almost every way: they shared the same pale complexion, strong bone structures and facial features – high arching cheek bones, defined jaw bone, full lips, aristocratic nose, perfect eye brows, etc. She had Sasuke's jet black hair and unfortunately, it was just as unruly, if not more, as his. Currently it was tamed, pulled back into a secured bun, but most of the time she just looked like a wild child. Uchiha Satsuki, for all her cuteness and inheritance of good genes, was a carbon copy of Uchiha Sasuke: a true Daddy's Girl to her core. Her demeanor was just the same as his; she spoke just like him, gave impassive and angry stares just like him, and she even referenced to Naruto as 'dobe', just like Sasuke did. Satsuki even walked like he did, or maybe that was just an Uchiha thing – you know, all proud and confident and arrogant like. Head up, chin up, chest out. Sakura had tried to imitate to the duo just how they walked, but all they did was share a look and glance at her blankly before 'hn'ing and shrugging in synch, which was another thing Satsuki had picked up. The rest she could deal with, but Sakura absolutely hated when her daughter 'hn'ed her. Sasuke, on the other hand, loved the fact that she was such a Daddy's Girl, but reality would hit him hard when she found a boyfriend, considering the fact that more than likely, she'd be a heartthrob just like him…

* * *

**_~xXx~ She Loves Me ~xXx~_**

* * *

"Uchiha Satsuki!" Sakura huffed again, irritation growing, this time stomping her feet like the toddler in front of her does when she throws her once-in-a-blue-moon tantrums.

At 3'5", now in a black leotard, pale pink tights, pink pointe shoes, and a pink wrap skirt, Satsuki remained unfazed by her Okaa-san's childish antics, raising an eyebrow at her. Her arms were crossed as well and she stood blocking the entrance to what would be her otouto's room. The look Satsuki was giving Sakura was one that the latter was very familiar with; it was the same look Sasuke typically gave her when she was being "irrational and annoying" as he loved to say. It was an even glare, oh yes it was, but it had a twinge of boredom and a whole lot of annoyance to it.

"Uchiha Sakura," Satsuki said in response.

Sakura gaped at her like a fish out of water, her jaw hit floor and her eyes popped out of her socket.

"T-That's not my name!" Sakura practically shrieked. Satsuki raised her eyebrow again.

"You're not allowed to call me by my real name!"

"Hn," Satsuki said and shrugged, looking past Sakura to the clock on the wall…

_'4:51. Otou-san should be home soon. 9 more minutes, I just have to keep her out for nine more minutes. Then Otou-san will tell her to stop and then I can go to practice'_ the dark-haired little girl thought, but in her thoughts she did not register the fact that Sakura was still carrying on – a result of those raging, unchecked hormones and random mood swings we talked about earlier. Her gaze went from the clock on the wall to the extremely pregnant stomach about a yard in front of her. She glared at the womb with as much distaste as she could. Sighing, Satsuki rolled her eyes; she just wanted Sakura to have the baby already so her old Okaa-san would come back. This moody, irritable, angry or sad Okaa-san was so tiring to deal with. All Satsuki wanted was for Sakura to be her usual cheerful, happy, go-lucky, caring and compassionate self again, crying over every accomplishment she had and playing with her and teaching her new things. This Okaa-san was just -

"Don't 'hn' me! And my name is Okaa-san to you, young lady! Are you even listening to me?" Sakura continued on.

- annoying…

Satsuki glanced back up at her mother, looking impossibly agitated now, "Yes, Uchiha Okaa-san."

Sakura sighed satisfactorily, but it was more of a puff and a deflation than anything, completely disregarding the fact that the Uchiha part was still present.

"Good," Sakura smiled victoriously. "Now move."

"No."

"_NANI?!_"

"No."

"S-Satsuki, why n-not?!" Sakura stuttered, outraged that her daughter insisted on not moving from in front of the baby's nursery. She had playing Ghandi all freaking day and Sakura was tired of it. All she wanted to do was go in the room, and as weird as it sounded, sniff the damn paint before the smell went away! Sasuke had finished painting the room over the weekend and the color he had chosen was absolutely beautiful. It was blue, but not dark blue, and just right for their son. It was an exotic, almost aquatic type of color. And as much as Sakura had loved it, as much as she had been ready to paint, he hadn't allowed her within 20 feet of the room, making her stay downstairs all damn weekend long - it irked her now especially because the smell was nothing but a faint lingering scent, almost completely gone. She hadn't even gotten so much as whiff of that new, fresh paint smell and it genuinely pissed her off!

_"Sasuke-kun~ why not?" Sakura whined for the nth time as she followed him throughout the living room as he tried to make his way upstairs again, nagging him insistently, practically begging to just step foot in the nursery._

_Sasuke stopped and turned at the foot of the stairs to look at his wife. Her green eyes were watering and her bottom lip was quivering. Sasuke froze, his reprimand stuck in his throat. He had been doing so well too, avoiding exactly this situation at all costs. The Uchiha cursed himself for allowing her to see him falter, knowing she'd use this to her advantage._

_And Sakura, on the other hand, knew she had him right where she wanted him._

_"It's not like I'm going stay in there forever," she said, her voice getting thick. He looked like he was just about to give; his shoulders were already sagging in defeat. She could practically hear the reluctant agreement._

_'Gotcha!' Inner-Sakura cheered._

_A triumphant gleam reflected in her eyes…_

_Too bad Sasuke caught it._

_Any and all sympathy he had for her at that moment was wiped away. Here he was thinking that maybe he had been a bit hard on her earlier, enforcing the fact that she wasn't allowed upstairs at all quite harshly and she was just swindling him - again._

_"Please?" Sakura asked again. "Sasuke-kun, please?"_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed a bit and he shook his head, "No. You should go practice your little manipulation trick, you're getting a bit rusty."_

_And with that he turned around and continued up the stairs._

_"And stay downstairs, Sakura. If you come up here…" he said and turned around, smirking his signature smug smile. "Well, let's just say, you aren't going to like very much."_

It wasn't helping that obviously Satsuki had jumped aboard his don't-let-Sakura-sniff-the-paint campaign.

Before Sasuke left to go to work that morning, he had pulled Satsuki aside and had spoken to her privately. It had more than likely been to tell her to keep Sakura away from the nursery and knowing the two of them as well as she did, there was probably some sort of reward in it for Satsuki. And, hot damn, she was doing a pretty fine job at it!

Sakura had been trying for the greater part of the afternoon to get into the nursery but it just wasn't working. Satsuki could not be swayed. She had eaten when Sakura ate, used the bathroom promptly before or after Sakura, and even brought entertainment so she wouldn't have to leave the camp she had set up in front of room, complete with snacks, some pillows and blankets, and toys. The only time she had really left her camp was when it was time for her to get ready for ballet practice…

If anyone thought or doubted – even for a mere, split second – that Satsuki wasn't Sasuke's daughter for some reason, they were sorely mistaken. When they set out to accomplish something, they accomplished it no matter what. Satsuki's "mission" had been to keep Sakura out and she was doing it.

"Why not?" Sakura demanded an answer when she got none.

"Because, Otou-san said it's not good for you or otouto to go in there. He said the smell was bad for you," explained hastily, as if the answer was as clear as the day.

"It's not good for you either!" rebutted Sakura.

"That's why he closed the door!" Satsuki argued, hands on her hips.

"It's not fair!" wailed Sakura and Satsuki couldn't tell if she was actually crying or trying to use their 'trick' on her.

Sakura looked back at the clock and began to panic.

Looking back at her daughter, she pleaded with the toddler, "Please, Satsuki, just once. That's all Okaa-san wants."

Her emerald-green eyes watered and she sniffled.

"Ha!" the four-year-old barked out a laugh mockingly, right in Sakura's face. "That won't work on me; that only works on Otou-san!"

Sakura stood upright and stomped her foot again, her hands clutched into tight fists at her side.

"Why you little ingrate!" she shouted. "Can you at least open the door?"

"No." Satsuki said and plopped down on the ground. With her chin she indicated to the clock.

It was 4:59.

And precisely a minute later, the door opened and a smooth, deep voice could be heard.

"Tadaima," Sasuke's voice could be heard throughout the house. He sounded tired and absolutely unprepared for what would happen next.

Satsuki looked at Sakura and smugly smirked. Sakura shook her head, her pink curls bouncing about and moving with her movements. Satsuki just smiled, baring all her teeth.

The soon-to-be-mother-of-two could practically hear her shout "Tou-san!" in an extra sweet voice… But what she did next shocked Sakura completely.

"Tou-san!" And it sounded like the child had been abused all day and Sasuke was her savior, finally come to get her. Sakura watched Satsuki blinked rapidly and began breathing a little heavier, as if she was about to let out a gut wrenching sob. Satsuki got up and ran down the hall with tears streaming down her face. "Tou-san!"

Sakura, knowing what could come next, forgot about the opportunity to smell all the fresh painted she wanted in favor of waddling down the hallway after her demon-child. She got to the end of the hallway just in time to see Sasuke practically fly up the remaining amount of stairs separating him from his Hime. Satsuki jumped into Sasuke's arms while he frantically searched around for any sign of what might have caused his precious baby harm… but only came up with Sakura.

"What happened? Why's she crying? Is she hurt? Are you hurt?" Sasuke asked, firing a million questions at Sakura.

Just as the pinkette opened her mouth to explain, Satsuki wailed.

"Okaa-san was yelling at me and being mean and wouldn't listen when I said she couldn't go in the room!"

"Wait! What?!" Sakura yelled, flabbergasted.

"Sakura," Sasuke started, raising his voice over Satsuki's crying. "You know you can't go in there. You read the exact same papers as I did and heard the OB/GYN just like I did too."

"No, that's not the whole truth and she knows it. You haven't even given me a chance to explain, yet. You immediately side with her – all the time," Sakura insisted, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

"Sakura, she just turned four -"

"And it's not fair~" Sakura cried, letting out a heart-wrenching sob. She covered her face with her hands and cried – hard. The green-eyed pinkette turned away and waddled back down the hallway, her wails trailing behind her until a door was firmly slammed shut.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was stumped. Here they were, two of his most important women, – you know, besides his mother who gave him life – crying like there was no tomorrow. He had to diffuse the situation somehow, but that was the problem. He usually just gave them what they wanted to make them stop crying, but it wouldn't be a wise choice in this case.

Obviously Sakura had been giving Satsuki a hard time today and she was just releasing pent up irritation and annoyance, but Sakura… he couldn't very well give her what she wanted. Fumes were potentially dangerous to the baby's health. He couldn't, no he wouldn't put his son's life in danger just because Sakura wanted to sniff some damn paint. That wasn't how things worked. That wasn't how any of this was supposed to work… but… she sounded so heartbroken.

"Suki," Sasuke calmly addressed the sniffling toddler in his arms. "Hey, you're fine. You're okay. I know it can be… hard to deal with Okaa-san sometimes, but do you remember what I said?"

Satsuki looked up at him then, rubbing her eyes, and nodded. She hiccupped, "Y-you said that O-okaa-san would be r-really easy to upset more b-because of otouto. So I can't get upset too because she doesn't mean it."

Sasuke had been telling her this all throughout Sakura's second pregnancy; the first time he had told her was the first time Sakura made her cry, which she felt awful about later of course. She'd snapped at her in public, at a restaurant, for being too clingy and too fidgety.

"Exactly, so don't get upset because she didn't mean it. Alright?" Sasuke asked. Satsuki nodded and wiped her face.

Referring to the promise he made her when assigning the four-year-old her task for the day, Sasuke said, "How about you go clean up your stuff and then you can go open the new toy I got you. Does that sound good?"

Satsuki nodded again and smiled at him, planting a big kiss on his cheek. Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the action before setting her on the ground and instead if ruffling her hair like he usually would, he gently poked her forehead, in a fashion very similar to the way Itachi would always poke his own head.

"And clean your face," he called after her as she ran down the hallway.

Now with the easier part out of the way, Sasuke felt just an ounce of the anxiety he felt dissipate when his leading ladies cried.

The Uchiha patriarch sighed and looked at his watch… He still had Satsuki to drive to ballet practice before taking Sakura to her OB/GYN appointment, and that meant he'd have to either appease to Sakura's demand to get her to cooperate or he'd have to carry her outside - which was completely manageable because Sakura, even pregnant, weighed nothing and was relatively small compared to him, height wise. Or he could just talk to her, but words really wouldn't do anything since Sakura would find offense in anything he'd say just because she was pregnant and pregnant women often tended to be overly sensitive to nothing at all and everything in the world at the same time.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Sasuke began walking down the hallway leading to the master bedroom of their home and sighed.

"Annoying woman..." he mumbled under his breath."... Never listens to me..."

* * *

**_~xXx~ She Loves Me Not ~xXx~_**

* * *

Sasuke walked to the room he shared with Sakura and knocked on the door, before reaching for the knob and slowly twisting it and opening the only thing he thought was separating him from his wife.

"Sakura?"

Expecting to see her curled up on the bed with a pretty pout on her face, Sasuke stepped into the bedroom to find no sign of his green-eyed, pink-haired temperamental wife.

Fully walking into the room, Sasuke did a quick scan of the room before walking back out into the hallway. Both he and Satsuki, although was quite sure Satsuki really didn't notice or care about it, heard the slamming of a door. The master bedroom's door.

Sasuke walked down the hallway, passed the nursery, and headed towards the stairs before stopping dead in his tracks... It made sense now: Sakura wasn't in their bedroom, but he had heard a bedroom door slam shut. She had been wanting to sniff up all the damn paint fumes from the nursery but he wouldn't allow her to. And Satsuki had made sure she didn't go in the baby's room while he was gone at work during the duration of the day. So now that she thought he was occupied with their daughter, she found that it was the perfect opportunity to go smell some damn paint. She took full advantage of the situation at hand.

Being that Sasuke was Sasuke, he caught on pretty quickly and sharply turned on his heel, storming down back down the hallway. You don't just become one the best lawyers in a nation because you have a pretty face; you don't get to have your own law firm because of your family's name. No, it takes hard work and brains. Sasuke Uchiha had brains; he was a genius. You'd have to try really hard to pull one over on him - he wasn't about to allow himself to be bamboozled by his pregnant, emotional and dramatic wife.

Swinging the nursery door open with a bit more force than necessary and nearly yelling in frustration, the Uchiha patriarch radiated with mild anger. He could feel a headache coming on and felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation, or maybe it was a vein popping and throbbing in his head...

There she was standing in the middle of the room with her eyes closed, sniffing away and reveling in what little smell was left of the freshly painted walls.

"Sakura! For the millionth time, you cannot inhale those fumes!"

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she turned a cold, hard glare on her husband, her emerald orbs shining with annoyance - probably from being interrupted.

Sasuke sighed heavily. He'd probably need some aspirin later to control the ache in his head, just one or two... or three...

"Because, it's not healthy for the baby!"

"Out of the two of us, who's the doctor? You or me? Me! Not you!" she snapped.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura, a deep frown set on his face. He had no time for this; Sakura and her little games would throw his entire schedule off and he was a very punctual man. He had being late for anything. Call him OCD, weird, whatever - he didn't care. Things just had to go a certain way, his way.

"Sakura, you have five seconds to get out of this room. You went against what the doctor said and you didn't listen to me when I told you to stay away from this room, now enough is enough. Five," Sasuke began his countdown.

Said wife crossed her arms and turned her head defiantly, much like her daughter did when she didn't want to do something, and retorted: "Or what?"

"Four."

Sakura didn't budge. She looked at him; he was glaring at her but wasn't even moving to come drag her out of the room like she thought he would. He wasn't even moving a fraction, like a freaking statue standing there in all his Uchiha glory!

"Three."

Sakura's arms came undone a little. She really should move. He looked absolutely livid. She actually was a bit nervous, considering the fact that she had never gotten past three before.

"Two."

"Okay! I'm going!"

Sakura trudged to where Sasuke was standing, not appreciating the smirk on his face at all. She stopped and the door and turned around, hoping to get a whiff one last time but Sasuke gently pushed out the rest of the way out, closing the door.

The pinkette pouted and looked up at the tall, dark, and handsome Uchiha male next to her. He stared right back at her, his charcoal orbs staring expectantly.

"You're a meanie," she declared childishly before waddling down the hallway.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before following her.

"Tch... annoying..."

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**_~xXx~ She Loves Me ~xXx~_**

* * *

**Fin!**

**I really didn't like the ending, it was somewhat forced but at least it's done. I'll read this chapter again and check for mistakes after I eat! **

**Like I said, I was busy and gone the majority of the month, so over the course of this next week or so I'll try to catch up. It really doesn't bother me all too much that I'm posting late since I've seen many others do the same, but I do want to participate so I'm sorry if it bothers you that everything is late. In my mind, I'm still celebrating and supporting SasuSaku and their month, so...**

**Mistakes will be corrected!**

**Please review!**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns?**

**I.K.**


	2. Excuses, Excuses

**She Loves Me… He Loves Me Not**

**Chapter 2:**

**Excuses, Excuses **

**Author's Note:** Hello again! Here's the next chapter of my drabble series for SasuSaku month 2014! :)

**Prompt:** Late.

**Summary:** There was absolutely no reason for him being so late… again. "That's the third time this month, Uchiha," Lady Tsunade said mockingly from her seat. "I really do hope you aren't picking up Kakashi's traits, because they're very unfitting for the ANBU _captain_."

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and its entirety belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Read. Enjoy. Then, review!_

* * *

**_~xXx~ He Loves Me ~xXx~_**

* * *

He ran.

He ran like he was completely defenseless and something so awful, so horrid, and powerful enough to overcome him was chasing after him.

The foul curses that spewed from his mouth were vulgar and one had to wonder where such a colorful vocabulary could be picked up; sure enough, however, it was more than sufficient to deeply insult anyone in hearing range of the man, thank Kami there were none though.

The man had borderline god-like features, as if he were crafted by some higher deity or handpicked by Kami himself: he was fair-skinned, tall, and lean. His build was not that of an overly bulging muscular man, but his amazing physique was easily recognizable. And when the man was at a standstill or just simply walking, the air of confidence and great posture he had called for everyone's attention. His eyes were endless pools of onyx, so very intense, but lacking of any emotion all together – a trained skill, a learned habit practiced as a way to keep one's guard up, vulnerability out, and emotions hidden deep down. They were charcoal orbs that females found they could stare into and drown in. And the dark-eyed man had similarly dark-colored hair, almost a jet black color… almost but not quite. The unruly hair belonging to the man could be described best as black, yes, but shone with streaks of dark blue in different lighting. It was unkempt, in a manner that said 'I don't care what anyone thinks of my hair', but succeeded in driving men to jealously and imitation because of how any women seemed to be entranced by it. By the man's companions however, his hair was not anything to go crazy over, it was actually not unlike that of a chicken's ass.

This man thought to be so insanely alluring and handsome, was none other than the Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke: the lone survivor of the Uchiha Massacre and now the only Uchiha in existence, however that would not be that case for much longer…

Now… why would _the_ Uchiha Sasuke, captain of Konoha's ANBU Black Ops, one of the most feared ninja in the shinobi world, and wielder of the renowned Rinnegan, be running as if his life depended on it?

Well, simple: he was late.

Very late.

So late that it was an insult to his perfect reputation of impeccable punctuality.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Sasuke landed on a building and quickly formed a hand seal, Ram, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He had no time to rebuke himself for not thinking of using of the body flicker technique earlier.

* * *

**_~xXx~ He Loves Me Not ~xXx~_**

* * *

Sasuke landed in Hokage Tower, in Tsunade's office, a moment later; appearing in another puff of smoke, the raven-haired man came face to face with a rather smug looking Godaime Hokage. Tsunade's hazel-colored eyes were filled with mirth and just by her expression Sasuke knew he was in for a reprimanding which would probably consist of teasing more so than scolding. The granddaughter of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, loved making the Uchiha uncomfortable and took every opportunity presented to her to do so…

Now was no different.

Reluctantly - knowing it would make no difference in the teasing that was about to take place - Sasuke kneeled for a moment, out of respect, and while trying to regulate his breathing back to normal, said through gritted teeth, "I apologize, Hokage-_sama_, for my tardiness."

Standing, Sasuke resisted the urge to narrow his eyes and glare at the older woman as she snorted dismissively; she knew he wasn't being fully sincere but was doing what was expected of him. A frown settled on his face.

"That's the third time this month, Uchiha," Lady Tsunade said mockingly from her seat. "I really do hope you aren't picking up Kakashi's traits, because they're very unfitting for the ANBU _captain_."

She was referring to his former sensei's tendency to be late to every meeting, every departure for a mission, every important event, and any celebration he chose to attend; and, of course, there was always some out the way excuse to go along with it.

Reclining in her chair, the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf pulled out a sake bottle and cup from behind her desk. She poured herself a cup, knowing of his distaste for her drinking habits and that Sasuke would start getting impatient.

Just a predicted, he did, and cleared his throat.

"So…" the buxom blonde began. "What's the excuse this time? Naruto and Kakashi are on a mission, so they can't possibly be the reason why you're late this time around. What was it, hmmm?"

Sasuke tried to keep the blush crawling up his neck and slowly reaching his face at bay, but he could still feel the light warmth associated with the indication of blush burning on his cheeks. They were probably dusted over with a light pink or rose color and if he could _feel_ the heat, he knew Tsunade could _see_ it.

"I don't have all day, Uchiha," Tsunade spoke again, obviously enjoying the situation. "You were the one who was late, not me, and right now you're wasting more of my precious time."

Sasuke almost scoffed at the statement, knowing that she'd be doing nothing but drinking and complaining later when she had scrolls to read and missions to assign. And if the stack of papers next to her was any indication, then she had a ton of signing to do as well.

"I was busy," Sasuke said with what he hoped was an air of finality. He wasn't a kid anymore and he wasn't anyone's source of entertainment; Tsunade could stop acting like he was. The Godaime just stared expectantly at him, arching a perfect brown eyebrow as she waited for him to elaborate. Sasuke sighed irritably, "Sakura needed my help with something. I tried to get it done as soon as possible so I wouldn't be that late, if I was late at all."

Tsunade stared at him for a few moments, and Sasuke felt uncomfortable under her scrutinizing stare. He wasn't lying per se, but he also wasn't telling the whole truth.

It was true that his fiancée had needed his help, but it had been something that he could've gone about in several different manners, _smart_ manners. But he let his hormones and her hormones and her needs and his urges get the best of him and in the end, his better judgment had been clouded.

Sasuke was one hundred percent sure that if he said he, the ANBU captain, was late to a meeting with the Hokage because he and his fiancée – his pregnant and hormonal fiancée, he might add – were having sex at such an ungodly hour in the morning, he'd become the laughing stock of Konoha's shinobi world.

"Helping Sakura? Is that right? Well, Uchiha, may I ask what you were helping her with?" she'd go just a little bit further before assigning him his mission and relieving him of her teasing.

Sasuke was positive his face was as red as one of his precious tomatoes, despite him trying so hard not to blush.

He stammered uncharacteristically for a moment before fixing the Hokage the dirtiest glare he could muster.

"Does that really matter? She's pregnant, in case you forgot, so she's going to need assistance with things from time to time," the raven-haired ANBU captain evaded answering to the best of his ability.

"I think it matters since you were so _late_," Tsuande countered.

"I was less 4 minutes late," Sasuke rebutted.

"Yes, but you were still late," the blonde retorted. "I just want to know what type of '_help'_ you were offering."

Sasuke's eye narrowed and he clenched his jaw. He answered agitatedly, "You already know."

There was the mirth-filled look again.

"Of course I know. I just want to hear you say it!" Tsunade laughed before knocking back a shot of sake.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched and he groaned. He rubbed his temple and asked for the scroll containing the details of his mission. The sooner he knew what he'd be doing and what type of mission it'd be come, the sooner he could select ninjas to form a team based on what strengths would best suit the mission and formulate a plan to go about said assignment.

The two stared at each other for a few moments in silence, one glaring and the other taunting with a gleam in their eyes.

Tsuande broke the silence.

"Why is it so hard to say that you were late because you were going at it with your pretty little fiancée? Besides, it's not like you can make up a better excuse and at least that's the truth."

"I wasn't making up excuses. I was helping her," Sasuke defended himself with the utmost conviction even though there was really nothing to defend.

"Sure, of course, you were helping her reach a certain high," Tsunade said before breaking out into laughter, partially sake-induced, partially because of Sasuke's mortified facial expression. She reached into a draw of desk, still chuckling a bit at the fuming Uchiha, and pulled out two scrolls which she tossed at him.

"Here, S-rank, shouldn't take too long – 1 to 2 months tops. 3 targets. You leave Thursday morning, 5 a.m. and don't be late," the last part sent her into another fit of laughter, chuckling as Sasuke's face flushed again. "That means take care of '_helping_' Sakura ahead of time."

Sasuke growled under his breath before turning on his heel and storming out of her office, leaving the blonde Godaime by herself, not even bothering to ask why he and his eventual team were being given an S-ranked mission that could have been handled by an elite jōnin team. Eh, maybe it was some higher class criminal from the bingo book.

Her guffaws could be heard from down the hall where Sasuke was sliding his mask into place before disappearing in a flash. He'd make sure to find some time to give Sakura a good talking to when he got home. Her sexual needs wouldn't be making him tardy anymore, not matter how amazing the sex was at the end of the day…

* * *

**_~xXx~ He Loves Me ~xXx~_**

* * *

**Fin!**

**Please review!**

**Mistakes will be corrected!**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns?**

**I.K.**


	3. Caligynephobia (Don't Be Afraid!)

**She Loves Me… He Loves Me Not**

**Chapter 3:**

**Caligynephobia**

**(Don't Be Afraid!)**

**Author's Note:** Woohoo! I feel accomplished considering the fact that I was freaking beta-reading all day long. XD

**Prompt:** Phobia.

**Summary:** Sakura had the most irrational fears Sasuke had ever heard of in all 23 years of his life - yes, all 23, even if he didn't recall anything from the first few years of his life – but this was just beyond ludicrous. Really? This was what she was afraid of now?

**Rating:** T (But if you're super sensitive then rated M.)

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and its entirety belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Read. Enjoy. Then, review!_

* * *

_**~xXx~ She Loves Me ~xXx~**_

* * *

Sasuke loved his girlfriend. He didn't say 'I love you' as much as he should have, but that didn't mean Sakura didn't know that he loved her. Rather than taking the route she favored taking and proclaiming his love for her every second of every day in private and in public, Sasuke instead chose to show his love for his girlfriend of four years.

It was true, Sasuke Uchiha, heartthrob "playboy" from Konoha High School had been with little ole' Sakura "Billboard Brow" Haruno for four going on five years. They had gotten together the summer after graduation, right after Sasuke's 19th birthday after wasting their years in high school flirting with one another and dancing around any serious confessions or commitments.

But once they became an item - that was it. They were basically a married couple without actually getting married. They were always together, glued at the hip. Wherever Sakura went, Sasuke wasn't all that far behind. And wherever Sasuke went, Sakura went – most of the time latched onto him, be it holding his hand, linked at the arms, or wrapping her arms around his waist. She mainly did this to get her point across that he was taken, but hey – what's true love without jealousy? But that was beside the point. The point was that they were very much in lover and very dedicated to one another. Sasuke had even given up a chance to attend Oto Tech to stay close to his pink-haired lover.

They were a match made in heaven in every sense; they were perfect for each other.

Sakura had learned the best and most efficient ways possible to curve his anger when he was beyond furious; she was his trusted confidant and shoulder to cry on whenever his family's death anniversary came around. She knew just what to say to get him to smile her favorite little turn of the lips; she knew just how much silly was silly enough to get Sasuke to laugh a laugh she had recorded on her iPhone because it was just that sexy. And Sakura knew exactly how to please her man…

Likewise, Sasuke had learned a lot more about Sakura than he had already known when the two of them became a couple. He had succeeded in discovering everything that made her tick, which was a lot and it really didn't help that she was a feisty and temperamental characters. _(He didn't really consider that to be an accomplishment, but it did help him avoid having her mad at him.)_ The Uchiha knew all of her secrets and she knew all of his. Sasuke had memorized where her every curve, every dip, every scar, dimple, and freckle was. He knew what to do when she was sad – exactly who to call and which ice cream and chick flick to buy – and had perfected his cooking skills to the point where he could cook all her favorite meals without a recipe. _(As much as he loved, she couldn't cook to save her life, even if she could very literally save someone else's life with all her medical prowess. But recently she had told him the reason she thought she was so bad at cooking: because she was scared of cooking. He knew that was just her way of coping with not being able to master the skill that was cooking.) _And he was a freaking sex god reincarnated so of course he was more than well-equipped and well-experienced at keep Sakura's insatiable craving well, satiated.

As it was, one of the things Sasuke gotten used to and actually found somewhat adorable was all of Sakura's little odd, naïve quirks. The raven-haired man had to admit, his girlfriend was an odd ball; she was very weird and so innocent in her weirdness too. And not weird in the sense that she was a closet nerd and had a scented marker collection, because she did have a scented marker collection of almost 400 markers – which Sasuke had proudly contributed to over the years – and she was no closet nerd. She was an open nerd, equipped with brains and beauty and oddly enough when she wanted, a fairly decent amount of brawns. Sakura wasn't creepy-weird either, like stalker-weird, and she wasn't perverted-fetish-weird either. _(Although, if they were being completely honest, some of the things they had tried in the bedroom – which sometimes included dominant/submissive roles, chains, handcuffs, whips, and tomato juice - were strange enough to scar a grown up for life, or what they had left of it.)_

No, Sakura wasn't weird in any of those ways; Sakura was weird due to the fact that she had so many damn phobias. Sakura was literally scared of about two dozen different things – none even the slightest bit the same – and the list kept growing too. But they weren't rational fears, not one of them. No, they were all the dumbest of the dumb, the stupidest of the stupid, and completely irrational.

Sakura had **Lepidopterophobia**, which was the fear of butterflies. She claimed that they were furry and much more colorful versions of moths and that butterflies were abominations that just wanted to scare her, possibly even bite her. Sasuke had assured her that they didn't bite and while they were in the same family, – he hoped – butterflies were harmless and not scary. Sakura had **Coulrophobia**, which was the fear of clowns and while many people had a fear of clowns, – Sasuke found that he too was creeped out by them occasionally - Sakura took her fear to the next level. Whenever Sakura sees a clown, the claws come out and she attacks; that's when her hidden strength comes out to play and Sasuke is the one left trying to pry her off some poor, unsuspecting man trying to entertain children at a party. Some of Sakura's other fears included: **Mageirocophobia**, or fear of cooking – which was totally new and random, **Mottephobia**, the fear of moths, **Ostraconophobia**, the fear of shellfish – probably because she was allergic to shellfish, **Pogonophobia**, the fear of beards – she made Sasuke swear he'd never grow out a beard, **Hobophobia**, the fear of the homeless – which was almost contradicting because she made Sasuke give homeless people money all the time, **Arachibutyrophobia**, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth, **Ornithophobia**, fear of birds, **Pupaphobia**, the fear of puppets, **Enetophobia**, the fear of pins and needles, etcetera, etcetera.

There were countless others and every month she had a new or a few more fears to add to the list. At first, Sasuke had really been annoyed by her constant pestering because of all her "fears" but when he weighed all the pros against the cons, he found that more good came from being with Sakura than bad so he learned to deal with it.

However, the fear that popped up around the beginning of July was something more than what Sasuke had bargained for when he agreed to put up with her phobias four, almost five years ago…

* * *

_**~xXx~ She Loves Me Not ~xXx~**_

* * *

"Sakura, this is ridiculous. Get off!" Sasuke snapped, trying to get his crazy, but amazingly sweet and beautiful girlfriend off of his back. If he could see, he'd probably see all the weird looks they were receiving from bystanders and people going about their day.

"No!" Sakura cried out defiantly. She couldn't let him see what she was witnessing, even if it meant she had to be terrified herself. Sakura was absolutely petrified at the moment: her heart rate was off the chart, increasing by the minute, at a rate of a thousand beats per minute, and she was sure that she was starting to perspire – because females perspired, they didn't sweat. Men did that. And she was shaking, partially because she was shitting her pants with fear – not to be taken literally- and because Sasuke was trying to pry her off his back.

This was one of those moments when Sakura's hidden strength came into play and Sasuke actually had to try to peel her off of him.

They had had dinner on the pier for no real occasion other than to get out of the house – even with Sakura's fear and allergy to shellfish. To be honest, it had made dinner quite an interesting and entertaining event – and had been walking on the boardwalk together when Sakura quite literally attacked Sasuke. It had been completely out of the blue too; they were just walking and talking quietly amongst themselves – well Sakura was really doing all the talking – when, out of nowhere, she froze up. Sasuke knew this was a sign: whenever Sakura clamped up or stiffened, it usually meant she was about to go into panic mode and have an anxiety or panic attack… or actually attack something. This was typically triggered by her phobias.

Sasuke had quickly scanned the surrounding area and saw no sign of clowns, no seagulls flying overhead, no giant shellfish creature coming out of the ocean, no homeless people, no spaghetti monsters, no nothing. So what the hell had her on edge? He followed the direction in which her doe-shaped, green eyes were looking and found that she was staring directly at a group of women.

He looked at the women and back at the now shaking pinkette next to him and looked back at the women again. They were somewhat a fairly attractive bunch of women who were obviously trying too hard for attention what with their high heels, tight dresses, grandiose hairdos, and faces caked with make-up.

"Sak?" Sasuke called out, his concern growing. He gently shook her shoulder, trying to get her to focus back on him. Maybe she knew the girls she was staring at… Had they been the bullies Sakura told him she had had to deal with in her childhood? Were they the ones who teased her and picked on her out of spite and jealousy? Was… was she actually scared of them?

Sasuke fixed the group of females, some of whom were now openly ogling him and smiling and giggling flirtatiously at him, the dirtiest glare he could muster.

Turning back to the statue-turned Sakura, he found her large eyes fixated on him for a moment a moment before darting back and forth between him and the females.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked again, turning her towards him by the shoulders. And in that split second all hell broke loose.

Sakura let out a shriek and pounced on the poor, unsuspecting Sasuke, making said man stumble a bit before regaining his balance. His hands went to Sakura's waist and pulled, trying to get her off of him but she was like a freaking spider money, climbing up Sasuke's body like he was a jungle gym or a rock-climbing wall or something.

Sasuke told her multiple times to stop in as calm a voice as he could manage, but when she didn't stop her antics, he had no choice:

"Sakura! _Get down!_"

Sasuke hated raising his voice, especially at Sakura, but she just wouldn't budge. The last time he yelled at her, even though she had started yelling at him first, she started crying and wouldn't look at him when he talked to her for almost a full week. He promised her he'd never yell at her again, no matter how mad he got. Everyone else, yeah, sure – but, her? Hell no. She'd look at him like she was a child and was frightened of him; he never wanted to see that look again.

But she just wasn't listening to him now.

Great, just great - they were creating a scene.

Sakura was screeching unintelligibly like a freaking banshee and Sasuke was barking at her to get down and people were gathering around to see what they thought was just some poor guy getting attacked by a loon. Sakura placed her legs on Sasuke's shoulders and twisted so that she was facing forward sitting on his shoulders. Once she was firmly seated, the green-eyed phobia freak slapped her hands over Sasuke's eyes. (Ouch.)

"WHAT THE HELL, SAKURA?!"

"I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, but I can't let you see what I'm seeing!" she tried to explain whilst batting away his flailing arm with once hand with the other was firmly planted over his eyes, the hand pushing his head back against her abdomen. Sasuke tried to peel her hand away, but remember that random strength Sakura possessed at times? Yeah, sure did suck to be Sasuke at the time.

"Sakura, this is ridiculous. Get off!" Sasuke snapped.

"No!" Sakura cried out defiantly.

"SAKURA!"

"NO!"

Sasuke was fuming. This was beyond ridiculous. What reason did she have to do this? What caused this? She was screaming and acting like a freaking kid throwing some tantrum. This was complete and utter bullshit. She'd never, ever done something like this in the past – _to him_. He was usually the one handling the situation, not the one being man handled in the situation.

Little did Sasuke know that she had acquired a new phobia called **Caligynephobia**, which was the fear of beautiful women…

To the Uchiha's relief and almost delight, he heard his "name" called from what he could tell was a crowd gathered, you know, by the murmurs because he couldn't really see at the moment.

"Teme! Hey, Teme!" a loud, boisterous voice belonging to the one and only Naruto Uzumaki called out. Naruto made his way through the throng of people with his girlfriend of two years, Hinata Hyūga, at his side.

"Naruto – GET HER OFF!"

The couple was taken aback by the scene in front of them and while Naruto really just wanted to laugh and tease Sasuke for the predicament he was in, he also knew in one of those rare moments of intelligence, that he should get him out of here before he ended up on the internet. He could harass him later about it. (Besides, everyone knew about Sakura's phobias; this was probably just another episode.)

Naruto carefully approached them, trying not to get hit by Sakura's swings or Sasuke's flails.

"Oi! Teme, stop your damn moving!" Naruto ordered, as he ducked under one of said swings.

"Just get her off, damn it!

"Okay, okay. I'm going," Naruto retorted. "Sakura-chan, hey, Sakura-chan it's time for you to get down now."

"No!" Sakura screamed and vehemently shook her head, causing Sasuke to take a few steps back to try and balance himself again. "Naruto, don't look!"

"Naruto, don't talk to her, get her fucking off!" Sasuke shouted at his best friend. "She's not going to listen to shit of what you say!"

"Alright! Calm down!"

Naruto maneuvered around his best friends and got behind Sasuke, attempting to lift the petite pinky from her boyfriend's shoulders, but Sakura was having none of that. She tightened her grip on Sasuke to the point that she started unknowingly strangling him.

"N-Naruto-kun! She's choking Sasuke-san!" Hinata cried out worriedly, watching as Sasuke fought with Sakura's limbs around his throat. His face became a shade paler and Hinata scrambled over to him, trying to help him pry her arms and legs off.

Naruto cursed and pulled harder, which in turn made Sakura tighten her grip further.

Sakura had her eyes squeezed shut and was screaming and fighting off her boyfriend and two friends. She opened them when she felt a softer touch on her legs, besides Sasuke's, and saw Hinata trying to loosen her grip on Sasuke. All the color drained from Sakura's face and she let out of shriek that scared the other woman. Pulling back, throwing all her weight backwards, Sakura tried to get away from the lovely, lavender-eyed heiress.

The way she tugged back gave Naruto the leeway he needed to finally pull Sakura off Sasuke but she pulled her boyfriend back with her causing him so stumble and fall. The last thing Sasuke remembered, however, was the feeling of falling backwards and blackness.

When Sasuke came to, Sakura was leaning over him with extreme guilt written clearly all over her face. He scowled at her and she grimaced.

Sasuke tried to sit up, but a throbbing in his head caused him to lay right back down. Looking around, he could tell that they were back home. Sakura held an ice pack on his head and Naruto – where the hell did he come from – and Hinata were watching him with wary eyes.

Naruto was the first one to break the silence, and grinned a sheepish smile before saying, "Hehe, sorry Teme, guess I pulled a bit too hard…"

Sasuke glared at him.

"How's um, your head?"

"Sasuke-kun?" a soft voice called out next to him.

Sasuke slowly turned his head to glare menacingly at the owner of the voice. Sakura's expression was apologetic and explanatory; she opened her mouth and began to speak when Sasuke didn't answer.

"Um, well… Sasuke-kun, I'm really sorry, really really sorry for you know, um… choking you and making you fall and hit you head…" she trailed off, mumbling to herself more so than to him.

Sasuke grit his teeth and counted inwardly to ten before asking her the one question everyone was itching to ask her: "What the hell was that?"

"Well, you see… um, I kinda sorta have a fear of bea…" she trailed off, her eyes avoiding his.

"What, Sakura? What damn fear did you have this time that it was absolutely fucking necessary to attack me in public?!" he asked incredulously, anger seeping into his voice.

Sakura flinched.

"Caligynephobia," she muttered meekly.

"_What?_" he snapped, he didn't heard what she mumbled but it still came out harsher than he intended.

"Ugh, it's called caligynephobia!" Sakura countered, embarrassed and slightly irritated herself.

"Sakura-chan… what's cala… calu… whatever the hell you said. What is it?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded.

"It's… it's a fear of…" Sakura glanced at Hinata. "A fear of beautiful women."

A vein popped in Sasuke's head and he face-palmed.

_Don't yell. Don't yell. Don't yell. Don't yell._

Turning to look at her directly, Sasuke sat up and asked one last question, "Then _how_ on Earth do you look in the mirror _every_ fucking day?"

"That's simple: I don't have catoptrophobia…"

* * *

_**~xXx~ She Loves Me ~xXx~**_

* * *

**Fin!**

**Catoptrophobia is the fear of mirrors, haha. XD And I don't really like how this one ended, I might change it later. ;) **

**Please review!**

**Mistakes will be corrected!**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns?**

**I.K.**


	4. Fallen

**She Loves Me… He Loves Me Not**

**Chapter 4:**

**Fallen … Part I**

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update! I was busy these past two days.

**Prompt:** There was no warning.

**Summary:** He, Uchiha Sasuke, had fallen without anything to stop the descent… He had fallen... in love… Well, damn! There could have been – at the least – a hint, a warning, or something!

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and its entirety belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Read. Enjoy. Then, review!_

* * *

**_~xXx~ He Loves Me ~xXx~_**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke, for all his intellectual giftedness and strong aptitudes, was stumped – terribly so. What- what was this… this _feeling_ he was feeling? He was strangely warm inside – and was that… was that a fuzzy feeling he was sensing?! He did not feel fuzzy feelings!

He, Uchiha Sasuke, was a man! A strong man! A manly man, damn it and he did not do the fuzzy, warm, tingly, gushy-mushy sensations bullshit…

Yet, here he was… feeling all of that.

What did it mean? He didn't have a fever. He wasn't ill. Sasuke was completely fine. Sakura had made sure of that when he returned from the mission…

He really didn't want to, but Sasuke thought about asking the pink-haired medic-nin sitting across from him to double check for anything he could have caught while travelling, maybe some type of bug or disease – _something_. Sasuke's onyx eyes flickered up to the pinkette across from him, away from the untouched bowl of ramen steaming in front of him. Maybe that was what was making him feel so warm. Maybe it was the heat? It was rather hot outside.

Sighing agitatedly under his breath, Sasuke watched as Sakura chatted animatedly with Naruto, laughing and smiling openly, happily. She looked over at Sasuke and smiled even wider at him, her eyes gleaming with joy… and love.

Sasuke's chest contracted violently, his heart clenched. He knew she loved him, but he didn't dare return her feelings… Not after everything he had been through. To love another person – with the possibility of losing that person – would crush and could very well kill him once and for all. He couldn't risk that, not when he had lost so much already and at such a young age.

But, every time she looked at him, accidently touched him, or even spoke to him, his heart rate would accelerate and he would get nervous. His throat would get dry. The infamous Uchiha Sasuke had even blushed during his last encounter with his pink-haired teammate. He didn't blush at females, so what the hell?

Sakura's eye flickered over to him every once in a while, as if she was checking up on him in her own silent way, or making sure that he was still there. And every single damn time their eyes met he had the same reaction, acting as if he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He was only ogling you know, staring. Not that big of a deal… Whenever she looked at him, he'd look away quickly, averting his eyes and feeling that blasted blush creep up his neck and onto his cheeks again. (Sakura was oblivious to this, thank Kami.)

Sasuke had to admit, he cared – very deeply – for his comrade, as any comrade should, but even he could tell that it was more than he cared for his other comrades, possibly with the exception of his loud-mouthed best friend and former sensei. Maybe it was because she was the only female on the team that he worried so much over her well-being and cared about her as much as he did. Maybe, maybe…

His eyes roved over her features: pure green orbs that shone with emotion, almost like the prettiest emerald jewel; rosy cheeks with dimples that nicely complimented a pearly white smile; pink hair to add to her unique and beautiful features that curled around and framed her face perfectly. Haruno Sakura, apprentice to the slug princess herself, for all her faults was a gorgeous creature.

Sasuke felt a pang in his chest, a pang he did not like one bit, as a thought – a single, nagging and incessant thought came to mind: he loved her, as more than just a friend or comrade, and she'd never be his.

Sasuke's eyes fell on his uneaten ramen again, glaring with distaste at the sodium filled food. He glared at it and lost in his thoughts, didn't hear the woman he had just been thinking about call out his name until she cautiously reached over the table and gently touched his hand.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Said man's head snapped up and he was met with such concern and love in those beautiful emerald orbs that Sasuke visibly flinched, snatching his hand away from hers as if she had burned him. He stood up abruptly and haphazardly placed some money on the table - more than enough to cover the entire table's worth of food, Naruto' included – and rushed away from Ichiraku's.

He wasn't falling anymore. He _had_ fallen; he loved her, for how long he had not damn clue. But, damn it all to hell, Uchiha Sasuke loved Haruno Sakura! After all these years of turning her away, not wanting to get too close for fear of tainting her innocence with his hatred and ruining her with his darkness, making her as corrupted as he was. That's why even now, as he came upon this realization, he knew it made no difference; he could keep her around as a friend, a teammate, and he could care for her – love her – through his actions as one, but could never have her as his lover. She deserved better, way better. No woman deserves a man who's tried to kill her, twice. It wasn't in the Uchiha's capability to make Sakura happy; he didn't know how to love anymore. So it was better this way: she'd pin after him and he'd pin after her, but he'd never pursue a relationship with her to keep her safe. Safe from him. She'd be sad and would try to get to him, but he'd always keep her at arm's length. It was only a matter of time anyways before the medic-nin caught some man's attention. Sasuke knew that a certain Inuzaka Kiba felt some sort of way towards his friend. It was only a matter of time before she got tired of waiting and decided to settle down with someone else, trying to forget all about him.

Could he really accept that? He knew, deep down, he never would.

He'd have to if he wanted her to be happy though…

Sasuke growled as he walked back to the Uchiha compound, back to that lonely place he'd probably never again call home. Right now, he only slept, showered, and ate there; he tried to stay as far away as possible from that place. Stepping through the threshold, a vision flashed before Sasuke's gifted eyes of a home that was no longer dark and cold a lonely; the house was full of life and warm. A woman with long pink hair, like the cherry blossoms she had to have been named after, was dressed comfortably in a dress and apron cradling a baby with jet black raven-styled her to her. She smiled at the infant and placed a single kiss on the child's forehead, her smile was blinding. A few more children – older than the infant, looking to be from the ages of 2 to roughly 8 or 9 – raced towards her, cheeky smiles and joyous cries of 'Kaa-san!' escaping their mouths. And then a man, a bit taller than himself if possible, with familiar untamed, raven-styled hair and piercing charcoal eyes that showed wisdom beyond his years slowly walked up to – what he was assuming was - the mother and her four offspring. He looked content, the man, with his lot and upon approaching the woman kissed her passionately and kissed the children lovingly, fatherly-like as well.

There was that pang again along with a swell of anger and sadness, some much sadness. Sasuke clenched his fist and slammed his door shut, storming into the large and empty house.

A bit of training would help greatly, he decided. Making his way to the training grounds behind what had once been his home, Sasuke tried to find something else to focus his attention on other than his current problematic revelation.

His thoughts weren't scattered. As a matter of fact, they were pretty damn concise and organized. Two things were on his mind…

_He loved Sakura… and she'd never be his…_

_He loved Sakura… and she'd never be his…_

_He loved Sakura… and she'd never be his…_

And that was just the way it had to be.

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**_~xXx~ He Loves Me Not ~xXx~_**

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**Fin!**

**Please review!**

**Mistakes will be corrected!**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns?**

**I.K.**


	5. The First Dozen

**She Loves Me… He Loves Me Not**

**Chapter 5:**

**The First Dozen**

**Prompt:** Keepsake.

**Summary:** The first gift she received from Sasuke as an official couple was a dozen roses and she's had them ever since.

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and its entirety belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Read. Enjoy. Then, review!_

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**_~xXx~ She Loves Me ~xXx~_**

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In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

It had been like this for the past two and a half hours…

In and out.

Come inside, grab a box, go outside and load the moving truck. Then walk back inside and grab another box, then go back out side and put it inside the moving truck. They had a rhythm going to it now; like a well-oiled machine, that's how they were operating. Back and forth. In and out. No stopping.

You really don't know how much stuff you have until you move and Sakura had just found out that she owned way more crap than she should have… or even thought she had. Sasuke, with his OCD and distaste for hoarding and keeping things unnecessarily, had been more than shocked and thoroughly pissed off when Sakura opened her door for him that morning… and displayed fifty-six boxes full of her belongings. How could one person have so much junk? They weren't small boxes either; they were freaking humongous! Her furniture had already been put in storage since Sasuke didn't want any of her odd pieces of furniture in his house, but all of this… Where the heck would they put all of this? The basement? Buy another storage locker?

The pinkette had given her fiancé an apologetic, sheepish smile and started helping him with boxes immediately.

They had started around noon and it was nearing two in the afternoon. Over halfway done with the task, Sasuke had suggested a lunch break and made his way to her kitchen to make them some food. Sakura – with nothing else to do since Sasuke forbade her from entering the kitchen, claiming she was 'an awful' cook – went to her what would soon be her old bedroom and made sure everything was packed up. The green-eyed nurse checked every crook and cranny and found mostly nothing; there were a few books here and there, some old magazines, and some photos she hadn't packed yet. She ventured into her walk-in closet and did a quick scan. There a little box tucked away on a shelf to her right caught her eye.

Looking for something to step on to get said box, Sakura came up empty. The step ladder that had been in her closet was already packed up with the rest of her stuff.

"Sasuke-kun!" she called, deciding he could use his ridiculous height to get box. "Sasuke-kun, could you come here for a second? I need your help!"

"Where are you?" he called out, his voice travelling down the hallway to her room.

"In my closet," she yelled back.

A few moments later, Sasuke lazily waltzed into the closet, leaning against the threshold's frame. He raised an eyebrow at her and Sakura pointed at the box.

The raven-haired man laughed, it was more like a snort though, at her childish mannerisms and ruffled her hair as he stepped around her and reached for the object. Sasuke lowered the object to his short fiancée and watched as she carefully took it, acting as if it was made out of fine china.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, hoping to break her out of her trance. He reached out and touched her shoulder, "Sakura."

"Sasuke-kun…" she started softly. "Do you remember what you gave me on our first date? The first date we had after you asked me to be your girlfriend…"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, trying to think. He had bought her some many things over the years that it was hard for him to keep track – that's what receipts and online tracking were for. Besides, that was so long ago, how did she honestly expect him to remember? Sasuke remained in his thoughts for a moment, trying to remember. He could immediately cross out that tacky-looking box she was holding; he would never ever get her something that looked like that. Thinking back to when he was still a teen and very early in their dating process, Sasuke could only come up with one thing: flowers. He always gets Sakura flowers, specifically from Ino's flower shop because she knew exactly what Sakura liked and disliked.

"Flowers," he answered distantly, still trying to remember. Yes, he did get her flowers… "…Roses. I got you a dozen red roses."

Sakura beamed up at him before slowly removing the lid on the box, revealing a dozen dried roses with a faded red ribbon tied around them.

"That's right. The first gift you gave me was a dozen red roses. I never got rid of them…" she whispered. "… And I'll never get rid of them."

She smiled up at Sasuke, eyes shining with unshed tears. His own onyx orbs softened and he leaned down until their foreheads were touching… She could be such a sentimental, emotional mess sometimes… but, she was his sentimental, emotional mess. And he would be her romantic fool, buying her dozens and dozens of roses for the rest of their lives.

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**_~xXx~ She Loves Me Not ~xXx~_**

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**Fin! ****Rushed ending, sorry! **  


**Please review!**

**Mistakes will be corrected!**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns?**

**I.K.**


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